Since the university first opened its doors in 1891, the arts have been an integral part of a Stanford education. The Stanfords planned for a museum and art galleries in the founding grant. In a letter to the university’s first president, David Starr Jordan, Leland Stanford wrote, “The imagination needs to be cultivated and developed to assure success in life.” In the last five years, Stanford University has made a major commitment to expand and deepen the arts on campus. Left: Students in an art classroom in the 1890s. Right: Inside Harmony House, home of the Institute for Diversity in the Arts, students workshop in CSRE 36: “Represent! Covering Race, Culture and Identity in the Arts Through Writing, Media and Transmedia.”